Biblical Authority Devotional: Praise God, Part 10

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful. (Psalm 147:1)

Today’s big question: how beautiful do you find praise?

Today’s verse teaches us that praise is actually beautiful, and the passage starts with the familiar words—“Praise the Lord!” Have you ever thought of praise as being beautiful? The psalmist gives us a wonderful picture of the beauty of praise in having us consider praising God through song. The wonder of music is such a powerful and beautiful avenue for praise.

Every Sunday morning, as I meet with brothers and sisters who gather at my local church, it is a great privilege to sing with them. I can’t help but look around at my local church family and think about how beautiful it is. We are actually edifying each other as fellow worshippers of God. One of the ways we do that is by joining our voices together and singing out praise to God as one group of adoring and affectionate hearts.

We sing songs of affection for God as we build each other up with affection for His saints. Apart from being thrilled to come around the teaching of God’s Word in fellowship, Sunday mornings are so beautiful because we unite our voices in songs of praise. This beautiful edification is pleasant and it inspires and challenges us continue to worship in every area of life.

It is true that everything we do as believers—including singing praise—is to be directed by the central authority of the Word of God. Teaching from the Bible therefore must have a place of priority in our times of gathering together. There are some who have undermined the teaching and authority of Scripture with a misdirected emphasis on corporate singing, yet others have underestimated the beauty and value that God’s Word places on this very important and satisfying practice.

Many of us have allowed the beauty of singing praise to be shaded by placing too much value on particular styles or even by choosing songs that focus on man and what we will do rather than on the wonder of God, His grace, and the work of Christ on the Cross. Others have not acknowledged that if we truly accept the authority of the Word of God, we must also accept that God tells us He wants us to view singing His praises as beautiful. We have no right to label something as valueless that God calls pleasant and beautiful.

Today’s big idea: recognize that God’s Word states that singing praise is pleasant and beautiful.